There are two harmonica playing bluesmen known as Sonny Boy Williamson. The… Read Full Bio ↴There are two harmonica playing bluesmen known as Sonny Boy Williamson. They are colloquially referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson I and Sonny Boy Williamson II respectively, but are of no relation.
The two are easy to distinguish. Williamson I played the harmonica acoustically and was essentially a pre-War artist. Williamson II was entirely an electrified harpist, in the style of Little Walter, reflecting the advent of the jukebox and electrified instruments following World War II.
(Compare the albums Sonny Boy Williamson I ~~ Sonny Boy Williamson II)
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Sonny Boy Williamson I (30 March 1914 - 1 June 1948)
also known as John Lee Curtis Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, born in Jackson, Tennessee, whose first record Good Morning little School Girl was a hit in 1937. He was widely popular throughout the whole southeast of the U.S., and was practically synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade, making his a commonly used stage name by the time he was murdered in 1948. He is buried at the Old Blairs Chapel Church, south west of Jackson, Tennessee.
more on wikipedia
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Sonny Boy Williamson II (11 March 1908 - 25 May 1965) also known as Willie Williamson, Willie Miller, Little Boy Blue, The Goat and Footsie.
Aleck "Rice" Miller was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
Born as Aleck Ford to Millie Ford on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, his date and year of birth are a matter of uncertainty. He claimed to have been born on December 5, 1899, but one researcher, David Evans, claims to have found census record evidence that he was born around 1912. His gravestone lists his date of birth as March 11, 1908.
He lived and worked with his sharecropper stepfather, Jim Miller, whose last name he soon adopted, and mother, Millie Ford, until the early 1930s. Beginning in the 1930s, he traveled around Mississippi and Arkansas and encountered Big Joe Williams, Elmore James and Robert Lockwood, Jr., also known as Robert Junior Lockwood, who would play guitar on his later Checker Records sides. He was also associated with Robert Johnson during this period. Miller developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years. Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Miller playing for tips in Greenville, Mississippi in the 1930s. He entertained audiences with novelties such inserting one end of the harmonica into his mouth and playing with no hands.
In 1941 Miller was hired to play the King Biscuit Time show, advertising the King Biscuit brand of baking flour on radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas with Lockwood. It was at this point that the radio program's sponsor, Max Moore, began billing Miller as Sonny Boy Williamson, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on the fame of the well known Chicago-based harmonica player and singer John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I). Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name "Sonny Boy Williamson" from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name, and some blues scholars believe that Miller's assertion he was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914 (this is made somewhat less likely, however, by the fact that Miller was certainly older than Williamson even if one does not accept the 1899 birthdate.) Whatever the methodology, Miller became commonly known as "Sonny Boy Williamson", and Lockwood and the rest of his band were billed as the King Biscuit Boys.
In 1949 he relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas and lived with his sister and her husband, Howlin' Wolf (later, for Checker Records, he did a parody of Howlin' Wolf entitled "Like Wolf"). Sonny Boy started his own KWEM radio show from 1948 to 1950 selling the elixir Hadacol.
Sonny Boy also brought his King Biscuit musician friends to West Memphis: Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Robert Nighthawk and others, to perform on KWEM Radio.
In the 1940s Williamson married Mattie Gordon, who remained his wife until his death.
Williamson's first recording session took place in 1951 for Lillian McMurry of Jackson, Mississippi's Trumpet Records (three years after the death of John Lee Williamson, which for the first time allowed some legitimacy to Miller's carefully worded claim to being "the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson"). McMurry later erected Williamson's headstone, near Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1977.
When Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Sonny Boy's recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. Sonny Boy had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James's band. It was during his Chess years that he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964.
In the early 1960s he toured Europe several times during the height of the British blues craze, recording with The Yardbirds and The Animals, and appearing on several TV broadcasts throughout Europe. According to the Led Zeppelin biography 'Hammer of the Gods', while in England Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator. Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" mentions that during this tour he allegedly stabbed a man during a street fight and left the country abruptly.
Sonny Boy took a liking to the European fans, and while there had a custom-made, two-tone suit tailored personally for him, along with a bowler hat, matching umbrella, and an attaché case for his harmonicas. He appears credited as "Big Skol" on Roland Kirk's live album 'Kirk in Copenhagen' (1963). One of his final recordings from England, in 1964, featured him singing "I'm Trying To Make London My Home" with Hubert Sumlin providing the guitar. Due to his many years of relating convoluted, highly fictionalized accounts of his life to friends and family, upon his return to the Delta, some expressed disbelief upon hearing of Sonny Boy's touring across the Atlantic, visiting Europe, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and other landmarks, and recording there.
Upon his return to the U.S., he resumed playing the King Biscuit Time show on KFFA, and performed around Helena, Arkansas. As fellow musicians Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis waited at the KFFA studios for Williamson on May 25, 1965, the 12:15 broadcast time was closing in and Sonny Boy was nowhere in sight. Peck left the radio station and headed out to locate Williamson, and discovered his body in bed at the rooming house where he'd been staying, dead of an apparent heart attack suffered in his sleep the night before.
Williamson is buried on New Africa Rd. just outside Tutwiler, Mississippi at the site of the former Whitman Chapel cemetery.
more on wikipedia
The two are easy to distinguish. Williamson I played the harmonica acoustically and was essentially a pre-War artist. Williamson II was entirely an electrified harpist, in the style of Little Walter, reflecting the advent of the jukebox and electrified instruments following World War II.
(Compare the albums Sonny Boy Williamson I ~~ Sonny Boy Williamson II)
--------------------------------------------
Sonny Boy Williamson I (30 March 1914 - 1 June 1948)
also known as John Lee Curtis Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, born in Jackson, Tennessee, whose first record Good Morning little School Girl was a hit in 1937. He was widely popular throughout the whole southeast of the U.S., and was practically synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade, making his a commonly used stage name by the time he was murdered in 1948. He is buried at the Old Blairs Chapel Church, south west of Jackson, Tennessee.
more on wikipedia
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Sonny Boy Williamson II (11 March 1908 - 25 May 1965) also known as Willie Williamson, Willie Miller, Little Boy Blue, The Goat and Footsie.
Aleck "Rice" Miller was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
Born as Aleck Ford to Millie Ford on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, his date and year of birth are a matter of uncertainty. He claimed to have been born on December 5, 1899, but one researcher, David Evans, claims to have found census record evidence that he was born around 1912. His gravestone lists his date of birth as March 11, 1908.
He lived and worked with his sharecropper stepfather, Jim Miller, whose last name he soon adopted, and mother, Millie Ford, until the early 1930s. Beginning in the 1930s, he traveled around Mississippi and Arkansas and encountered Big Joe Williams, Elmore James and Robert Lockwood, Jr., also known as Robert Junior Lockwood, who would play guitar on his later Checker Records sides. He was also associated with Robert Johnson during this period. Miller developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years. Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Miller playing for tips in Greenville, Mississippi in the 1930s. He entertained audiences with novelties such inserting one end of the harmonica into his mouth and playing with no hands.
In 1941 Miller was hired to play the King Biscuit Time show, advertising the King Biscuit brand of baking flour on radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas with Lockwood. It was at this point that the radio program's sponsor, Max Moore, began billing Miller as Sonny Boy Williamson, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on the fame of the well known Chicago-based harmonica player and singer John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I). Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name "Sonny Boy Williamson" from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name, and some blues scholars believe that Miller's assertion he was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914 (this is made somewhat less likely, however, by the fact that Miller was certainly older than Williamson even if one does not accept the 1899 birthdate.) Whatever the methodology, Miller became commonly known as "Sonny Boy Williamson", and Lockwood and the rest of his band were billed as the King Biscuit Boys.
In 1949 he relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas and lived with his sister and her husband, Howlin' Wolf (later, for Checker Records, he did a parody of Howlin' Wolf entitled "Like Wolf"). Sonny Boy started his own KWEM radio show from 1948 to 1950 selling the elixir Hadacol.
Sonny Boy also brought his King Biscuit musician friends to West Memphis: Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Robert Nighthawk and others, to perform on KWEM Radio.
In the 1940s Williamson married Mattie Gordon, who remained his wife until his death.
Williamson's first recording session took place in 1951 for Lillian McMurry of Jackson, Mississippi's Trumpet Records (three years after the death of John Lee Williamson, which for the first time allowed some legitimacy to Miller's carefully worded claim to being "the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson"). McMurry later erected Williamson's headstone, near Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1977.
When Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Sonny Boy's recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. Sonny Boy had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James's band. It was during his Chess years that he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964.
In the early 1960s he toured Europe several times during the height of the British blues craze, recording with The Yardbirds and The Animals, and appearing on several TV broadcasts throughout Europe. According to the Led Zeppelin biography 'Hammer of the Gods', while in England Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator. Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" mentions that during this tour he allegedly stabbed a man during a street fight and left the country abruptly.
Sonny Boy took a liking to the European fans, and while there had a custom-made, two-tone suit tailored personally for him, along with a bowler hat, matching umbrella, and an attaché case for his harmonicas. He appears credited as "Big Skol" on Roland Kirk's live album 'Kirk in Copenhagen' (1963). One of his final recordings from England, in 1964, featured him singing "I'm Trying To Make London My Home" with Hubert Sumlin providing the guitar. Due to his many years of relating convoluted, highly fictionalized accounts of his life to friends and family, upon his return to the Delta, some expressed disbelief upon hearing of Sonny Boy's touring across the Atlantic, visiting Europe, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and other landmarks, and recording there.
Upon his return to the U.S., he resumed playing the King Biscuit Time show on KFFA, and performed around Helena, Arkansas. As fellow musicians Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis waited at the KFFA studios for Williamson on May 25, 1965, the 12:15 broadcast time was closing in and Sonny Boy was nowhere in sight. Peck left the radio station and headed out to locate Williamson, and discovered his body in bed at the rooming house where he'd been staying, dead of an apparent heart attack suffered in his sleep the night before.
Williamson is buried on New Africa Rd. just outside Tutwiler, Mississippi at the site of the former Whitman Chapel cemetery.
more on wikipedia
Welfare store blues
Sonny Boy Williamson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now me an my baby we talked late last night
An we talked for another hour
She wanted me to go down to the welfare sto'
And get a sack a-that welfare flour
But I told her, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go'
I said, 'I'll do anything in the world for you
I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
Now, you need to go get you some real, white man
You know, to sign yo' little note
They give ya a pair of them king-toed shoes
I want no a-them pleat-back, soldier coat
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
President Roosevelt said, on welfare people
They gonna treat ev'ryone right
Said, they give ya a can of them beans
An a can or two of them old tripe
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby, an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto', now
Well now, me an my baby we talked yesterday
An we talked in my backyard
She said, 'I'll take care-a you, Sonny Boy
Just as long as these times stay hard'
An I told her, 'Yeah, baby an I sho' won't have to go'
I said, 'If you do that for me
I won't have to go down to that welfare sto'.
An we talked for another hour
She wanted me to go down to the welfare sto'
And get a sack a-that welfare flour
But I told her, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go'
I said, 'I'll do anything in the world for you
Now, you need to go get you some real, white man
You know, to sign yo' little note
They give ya a pair of them king-toed shoes
I want no a-them pleat-back, soldier coat
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
President Roosevelt said, on welfare people
They gonna treat ev'ryone right
Said, they give ya a can of them beans
An a can or two of them old tripe
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby, an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto', now
Well now, me an my baby we talked yesterday
An we talked in my backyard
She said, 'I'll take care-a you, Sonny Boy
Just as long as these times stay hard'
An I told her, 'Yeah, baby an I sho' won't have to go'
I said, 'If you do that for me
I won't have to go down to that welfare sto'.
In Sonny Boy Williamson's "Welfare Store Blues," he tells the story of a conversation he had with his lover about going to the welfare store. She wants him to go and get some flour, but he refuses because he doesn't want to be seen as someone who relies on charity. He tells her he'd do anything for her, but going to the welfare store is not one of them, because the welfare store is where poor people go to get help, and he doesn't want to be seen as poor or needy.
Williamson's lyrics speak to the stigma attached to government-assisted programs like welfare. He talks about how even though President Roosevelt said that welfare people will be treated right, there is still shame and judgment attached to accepting help. Through his refusal to go to the welfare store, Williamson is expressing his pride and unwillingness to accept charity, even from someone he loves.
Overall, "Welfare Store Blues" is a social commentary on poverty, government assistance, and the feelings of pride and shame that come with asking for help.
Line by Line Meaning
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: WILLIE WILLIAMSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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bryan buck
i put off exploring John Lee's music for way too long. Having only recently found him, he's right up there in my top 3 or so. songwriting is amazing and the harp sounds 20 yrs ahead of its time at least. do any real heads know if/to what extent John Lee and Sonny Terry interacted?
SirMushrump
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. They call 'em food banks now. One of my favourite records ever.
Larry DuVall
blues is so funny
raindogred
I heard the other sonny boy for decades, think this one is even better..both great though
Jim Dixon
WELFARE STORE BLUES
As recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson, 1940.
1. Now me and my baby, we talked last night, and we talked for nearly an hour.
She wanted me to go down to the welfare store, and get a sack of that welfare flour,
But I told her: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."
2. "Now you need to go get you some real white man, you know, to sign your little note.
They give you a pair o' them cane-toad shoes, and one o' those old pinch-back soldier coats,"
But I told 'em: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."
3. President Roosevelt said of them welfare people: "They gon' treat ev'rybody right."
Say: "They give you a can o' them beans, and a can or two of them old tripe,"
But I told 'em: "No, babe, and I sure don't want to go."
I say: "I'll do anything in the world for you, I don't want to go down to that welfare store."
4. Well now, me and my baby, we talked yesterday, and we talked in my back yard.
She say: "I'll take care o' you, Sonny Boy, just as long as these times stay hard,"
And I told her: "Yeah, babe, and I sure won't have to go,"
I say: "and if you do that for me, I won't have to go down to that welfare store."
Larry DuVall
you need to get you some kind of white man to sign you a little note, haha
tom boone
This John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson tune is full of irony. The theme is surviving White Supremacy with dignity. The subject is the couple's quid pro quo; if he provides more sex for her, she'll go down to the Welfare Store instead of making him go. And N.B. the clever double entendre (in purple). -Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Now me an my baby we talked late last night
An we talked for another hour
She wanted me to go down to the welfare sto'
And get a sack a-that welfare flour
But I told her, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go'
I said, 'I'll do anything in the world for you
I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
Now, you need to go get you some real, white man
You know, to sign yo' little note.
They give ya a pair of them king-toed shoes
An one a-them pleat-back, soldier coat
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto'
President Roosevelt said, on welfare people
They gonna treat ev'ryone right
Said, they give ya a can of them beans
An a can or two of them old tripe
But I told 'er, 'No'
'Baby, an I sho' don't wanna go
I say, 'I'll do anything in the world for ya
'But I don't wanna go down to that welfare sto', now
Well now, me an my baby we talked yesterday
An we talked in my backyard
She said, "I'll take care-a you, Sonny Boy,
Just as long as these times stay hard."
An I told her, 'Yeah, baby an I sho' won't have to go'
I said, "If you do that for me
I won't have to go down to that welfare sto'."
EvieFive
Lyrics very much similar to "Red Cross Store" by Leadbelly.
Larry DuVall
i had to go down to the welfare, every month to repote'